Published online Mar 15, 2019. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v10.i3.169
Peer-review started: February 20, 2019
First decision: February 26, 2019
Revised: March 1, 2019
Accepted: March 8, 2019
Article in press: March 8, 2019
Published online: March 15, 2019
Processing time: 24 Days and 14.8 Hours
The detrimental effects of constant hyperglycemia on neural function have been quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated in the setting of diabetes mellitus. Some of the hallmark features of diabetic encephalopathy (DE) are impaired synaptic adaptation and diminished spatial learning capacity. Chronic and progressive cognitive dysfunction, perpetuated by several positive feedback mechanisms in diabetic subjects, facilitates the development of early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Despite the numerous clinical manifestations of DE having been described in detail and their pathophysiological substrate having been elucidated in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, an effective therapeutic approach is yet to be proposed. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the growing body of evidence concerning the effect of current antidiabetic treatment options on diabetic and non-DE.
Core tip: In this review, we aim to create a concise overview of the effects exerted by hyperglycemia on neural tissue, while describing the potential of each antidiabetic drug to improve functional and cognitive capacity in subjects with diabetic encephalopathy.